“The Stars did make it to the playoffs. And from the sound of the cheers, they’re winning.”

His face darkened with rage. The successful businessman had disappeared, leaving the cruel bully of her childhood in his place. “Goddammit, you’re gloating, aren’t you?”

“I’m not—”

But her denial came too late because he jammed her against the wall with his body. She winced as her shoulders hit and her purse dropped to the ground.

“You ruined everything for me! You always have!”

Frightened, she pushed against his chest with the heels of her hands. “Let me go or I’ll scream!”

“Go ahead! If anybody sees us, they’ll think you’re coming on to me like you come on to everybody else.”

“I mean it, Reed! Let me go.”

She froze as she felt his hand move to her breast. He squeezed. “You were a hot little piece when you were eighteen, and you still are.”

Shock held her immobile. “Get your hands off me.”

“When I’m ready.”

She struggled to back away from his obscene touch, but she was pinioned by his body. The expression on his face frightened her. She expected to see lust, but instead she saw something more dangerous. She saw hatred and the need to exert his power over her just as he always had.

“You may end up with the Stars, but before you start believing you’ve got the last laugh, there’s something you should know.”

The triumph in his expression made dread creep through her like poison. She was a child again, watching him hold a photograph of her mother just out of her reach. They might have been surrounded by eighty thousand people, but she had never felt more alone.

His lip curled. “That night in the pool shed . . .”

“No! I don’t want to hear this!” All the old nightmares came rushing back. She could hear the thunder, feel the hot, sticky heat. Once again, she tried to pull away from him, but he wouldn’t release her.

“Remember the storm? How dark it was?”

“Stop it!” She had begun to sob. He squeezed her breast tighter.

“So dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. . . .”

“Don’t do this!”

“That night when Craig fucked you . . .”

“Please . . .”

“It wasn’t Craig.”

Her stomach heaved, and a whimper slipped through her lips as his words hit her like a blow. Her lungs felt as if they had collapsed and she was suffocating to death.

“I’m the one who found you in that shed.”

She was going to vomit. Had she always suspected this in the deepest recesses of her subconscious or was it new knowledge? She gagged at the smell of his cologne.

He released her breast only to twist a lock of her hair around his fingers. She bit her lip to keep from crying out as he pulled hard.

“And the best part is, there’s not a damned thing you can do about it, Miss High and Mighty, because it happened too long ago. It’d be your word against mine, and while you’ve been humping everything in pants, I’ve been Mister Clean. So whenever you start gloating about the Stars, know that I’ll be remembering the way you screamed when I popped that sweet little cherry of yours.”